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How long?

I have had a plugged duct since Monday at 3am. Just wondering how long they usually last if you are doing all the usual treatments around the clock! I am so nervous about mastitis and really wish it would just unclog already! So anyone who has had a plugged milk duct please let me know about how long it took before it went away...or how long before it turned into mastitis. Thank you!

Re: How long?

I just started having problems with this recently (my son is 17 months). With the first one, it appeared in the afternoon and was resolved by morning. It has recurred a couple times and took less than a day for the lump to be gone but i still have pain from the plug i had on saturday.

the first time i found that i wasn't really able to let-down well- especially when i was pumping. i believe that at some point in the night i had a good letdown and it released while henry was nursing. for me lots of heat has really been helping. also it's important to try to get them to nurse with their chin pointing at the plug, even if that means you have to use a weird position.

Re: How long?

Isn't that funny, Easter weekend I discovered that I had plugged ducts in both breasts that had turned into one nasty case of mastitis! The plugged duct in my right breast resolved rather quickly, but the left one took much longer, and I wound up going up to see my OB after a few days just to make sure that everything was okay.

But now I pump after each feeding, which is a real pain in the butt with my manual pump, can't wait for my new electric pump to get here on Wednesday. While I had the mastitis, I also made sure that I put a warm compress on whichever boob was plugged before I fed my baby son on that side.

With any luck, I won't ever have to deal with the mastitis thing again. Once was enough! Hehehe...

Re: How long?

I had a plugged duct three times in two weeks and all three times the plug was nursed out by my LO within 8hrs. I was diligent about the warm compress and massage, and I pumped/nursed as often as I could. If your plug doesn't heal up with the above steps, consider seeing a doctor or a lac consultant because your supply can suffer if it isn't resolved.